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Hello everyone! Today's part is fairly long! I hope you enjoy it!

Image from Left to Right: Ike, Marth, Roy

Star is on the bottom. This is Star from another daydream. She is wearing a dress similar to the one that the magical Princess Zelda wears, from The Legend of Zelda game series,  and is holding Ike's sword. In this case, she was a german queen.

Copyright © 2010 by qstarfire.

All rights reserved.

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As nightfall approaches, Roy leads us down a small well-hidden path to the side of the main road. A small hideout slowly emerges into view. It looks like a cozy treehouse, but is not up in the trees; it is nestled around the bases of the surrounding trees instead.

"This was where I spent a lot of my time when I was younger," Roy explains, as we follow him closer to the front door. "This should do for a good resting place tonight,"

Roy opens the front door, motions us inside, and shuts the door behind us. The main room is wide open, with a fireplace to one side and a circular table in the center. The walls have couches lining them and there are two doors in the back. A single hallway branches off to the left of the left most door leading to two more doors. Each door is slightly open, so I can see inside them. The two doors off of the main room are bedrooms. The rooms off of the hallway have a washroom on the left and another bedroom on the right. I wander around the place for a bit, "Nice place," I call out from the back room. "Isn't it though?" Roy calls back from the main room, and I hear a little chuckle from Ike to the side. A small smile etches itself onto my face as I continue looking around.

A little while later, I find myself sitting in silence in the main room next to the fireplace. I am looking down towards the floor, contemplating about something in my own little world. I focus on the floor, studying the patterns as I find myself in deep thought.

This place seems okay. I hope nothing bad happens soon. It seems like they trust me, but what if I am forced to fight? I do not wish to...

"Hey, Star. You uh, alright?" I jerk my gaze upwards and find Ike standing there, right above where I was staring, for who knows how long. I glance around for a moment.

"Ah, yeah. Just, uh, thinking. That's all," I nervously sit back and lean against the backing of the couch, covering myself up under my cape and keeping my hood shadowing my face. I pull my legs up against my chest and look back up at him. "I have something to ask you, Star," Ike sits down across from me on the couch against the opposite wall.

"Yes?" Ike has a strange expression plastered across his face, like he was thinking about something.

"So, before when we were ambushed those couple of times. Sorry, I do not wish to make you nervous. But, I am curious, you did not really fight during either and I want you to know that it is okay and you do not need to fear anything. I want you to be prepared to fight if you have to, alright?"

Ah, I know but...

I look down slightly. "I just..." I pause for a moment. "I just do not like violence,"

A small smile appears on Ike's face. Roy was sitting against the other couch to my left, I did not notice he was there until now. A small shiver ran down my spine for some reason.

"I also dislike violence Star, we are more similar than you might think," I turn to look at Roy, he also has a small smile on his face while gazing towards me.

"However, if I had to, then I would. To protect you," Roy continues. Another shiver ran down my spine. I try to hide the fact I shuttered that time and kept my gaze slightly to the floor.

"I agree with you Ike; we all will fight together here. That is the truth," Ike glances to Roy and nods. The room falls silent for just a moment. I hear shuffling in the background; Lucina is in the back room messing around.

"Agreed, Roy, I'm in on this too," Lucina calls from the back. Another moment of silence fills the room, until Ike breaks it this time. "Hey. I feel like we should get you some armor, Star,"

What? Armor, for me? I never really thought about using any...never wanted to fight anyone...

I do not look up from the pattern on the floor I have found myself focusing on once again. "You guys, don't have to, uh, do all of this for me you know," I finally said quietly. I waited a moment and let out a deep breath. "Thank you,"

Slightly louder shuffling noises come from the back room. Footsteps appear and gradually become louder until Lucina emerges from the faded out hallway. "So, Star. Question for you. May I see that sword of yours again?" Lucina says as she walks up to me and stands next to the edge of the couch. I look up at her, nod and reach for the sword. I stand up once I have a hold of the handle and pull it out. The shining blade, with the golden handle shimmers in the faded lights from the fireplace. I gently place the blade in Lucina's palms she has opened and held out in front of me.

"I already know it is the same sword as mine, I just want to ask you if you knew how to fight with it,"

Oh, of course. I knew one of them would ask me eventually.

I let out a sigh. "Alright, I knew one of you would ask me. Here goes," I pause for a moment, collecting my thoughts. "Yes, Lucina, I do know how to fight with a sword. However, I can only do so with my magic spells. I only really know how to fight with magic alone, though," A skeptical look splashes itself onto Lucina's face as she glances over my darkened face.

"Alright then, show me,"

Oh, here goes nothing. You asked for it, Lucina.

I calm my mind and look around the room for something small and simple to manipulate. I find a small rusty lock laying on the table in the back of the room.

Perfect.

I lift my left hand slowly into view from underneath my cape. I could feel the eyes glued onto me as I focus onto the lock several feet away from me. The room feels like it fazes in and out as I focus more onto the object. The black orb appears around my hand and my eyes turn to that darkened black color. After a moment, the lock becomes surrounded by the darkened black light and I lift the lock once I was completely focused on moving it over to me. I push all other emotions into the back of my mind, completely forgetting about everything but the lock.

The only thing then on my mind is the rusty lock and my hand. I bring the lock right next to me onto the floor at my feet and it rests there. I follow the direction of the lock with my arm while not moving my body position at all. I break my concentration once it softly clanks, revealing it landed onto the floor and is no longer hovering. Once I break my concentration, all the black magic disappears from sight at once. I keep looking at the lock and I do not move the position my hand is in, "Dark magic is highly difficult to understand. I have to concentrate fully on the task, or the spell will not work,"

I go back to concentrating onto the lock at my feet, raising my second hand up into the air next to my left one. The black magic surrounds my hands and the lock once again, encompassing my eyes with their black light. Once the room around me appears fuzzy, I am fully concentrated onto the lock and I can prepare to push force onto it.

I feel a jolt of energy shoot through my arms to the tips of my fingers then the black magic surrounding the lock flashes slightly. I feel the magic begin to slip from my grasp.

I have to end this now. It's slipping.

I stop myself from panicking and luckily the lock immediately breaks into pieces right at my feet, without me moving anything at all. I break concentration and lower my hands quickly while all dark magic fades away from sight. I step back a little, still looking towards the lock on the floor.

"Whoa," I jerk my gaze up towards Lucina. The expression on her face tells me she is impressed. Obviously she has never seen magic before, especially the dark magic kind. I glance around. Ike and Roy are watching us intently, interested in the things I am going to do next.

"I'm surprised you broke that lock so easily, Star,"

Huh, only surprised? Come on Lucina, the look you gave had impressed written all over it.

I watch Lucina change expressions several times, like she was thinking a million thoughts at once.

Her gaze falls to my eyes and she smiles slightly. "So, hey. Star, I have never seen your hood down before. Care to show us? Or are you hiding something?"

I nervously glance towards Ike. "I do not look that much different from you, Lucina. I do not need to drop my hood," I watch the curiosity increase on her face.

"Come on Star, you can show me. You do not have any reason to be shy about this or hide yourself from us," I let out a hefty sigh. I lift my hands up and grasp the edges of my hood, then pull it back onto my shoulders. My darkened red hair drops out of it and lands softly onto the middle of my back and my bangs slide out and hug around the curves on my face. My dark purple eyes are revealed and no longer shadowed, probably glittering from the faint light the fireplace was giving off. My mother and father always told me they really like my eyes when they are not shadowed under my hood. They said they sparkle even though the color is a bit dark.

I look up into Lucina's gaze. "See, I do not look much different from you, Lucina," I stand up straighter, trying to look confident in myself, trying to hide the fact of how nervous I feel for exposing myself like this. Ike chuckles from where he was watching.

Yeah, yeah Ike. I know what you're about to say...

"That may be true but that does not define and make you the same. Everyone is different in their own way,"

I know, Ike, I just...

I lower my gaze to the floor as I hear Roy follow up, "I agree. Try not to think that everyone will be so judging of you, Star," A small smile etches itself onto my face, but I slide it away once I realize it is there, then find Lucina's gaze once again. She is looking at my eyes, my face, my hair, my clothing, everything. A smile grew onto her face as she then meets my gaze.

"I really like your choice in style, Star. I have never seen anything like it before," I glance around to Ike and Roy as I said, "My mother also wore this, but in a different color. She wore dark purple," My expression fades into a small frown. "Which makes me just like her...why do you all still trust me..." I could feel Lucina's gaze sharpening onto me as I gaze down to the floor again.

"Awe, come on Star. That does not make you the same at all," I glance back up at her. Lucina says that as she glances around to Ike, Roy then back to me. A bone chilling silence fills the room. Once I notice, I mutter a silent, "Thank you," I slowly raise myself up off of the floor, hovering. I glide past everyone, give a glance to Ike, seeing his small smile as I pass by, pulling my hood back over my head. I disappear into the right door in the back of the room.

I prepare to meditate, by sitting in the center of the floor. I cross my legs and close my eyes. Once I am ready, I begin to mutter softly the phrase my mother taught to me and begin hovering above the floor, falling into concentration. The world slowly disappears from my mind as I focus onto the darkness inside my mind. I see nothing. I hear nothing. I feel nothing.

Suddenly, I hear what sounds like a loud sword clanging against another. I jerk away from my concentration, let out a little scream, crash onto the floor from my hovering state with a thud, and releases a sound of surprise from my lips. Ike materializes at the door with Roy and Lucina right behind him, with shocked looks on their faces.

"Are you alright Star?" Ike asks me, with a flicker of worry in his eye. "What happened?" I quickly pick myself up from the floor and raise my hand, palm facing them. "I am okay, Ike. I just had a small hiccup in my meditation, that's all," I look up at them and smile for just a second. "Thank you for checking on me. I did not expect that to happen or I would have been prepared for it," I glance around nervously. "Um, something must have made a noise that I did not expect... or something. And it startled me in my calm state of mind," I sit back down in the center of the floor, close my eyes and cross my legs once again. Without opening my eyes, I say, "I must get back to meditating,"

Once I get back into full concentration, when the room around me fades away completely once again, I focus on what that noise must have been.

Where did I hear that noise before?

Then I remember when I would watch my father practice out in the courtyard from my bedroom window. I would watch how he swung the sword. You must swing the sword properly or the sword will be your downfall.

"Swords are similar to emotions...they must be used properly or you lose control, they consume your strength," This is what my father always told me.

Once the room around me begins to enter my conscious once again, I complete my meditation session. I glance up and catch a glimpse of Ike watching from the main room. I feel a smile creep up onto my face as I stand up and enter the main room. As I wander past Ike to sit down at the chair next to him at the table, he says, "You look calmer,"

Yeah, I do feel better now.

I sat down in the chair and lazily gaze to Ike's direction. "Meditation is what keeps me sane," A smile appears onto Ike's face and a short silence creeps into the room for a moment.

"I watched you for a while in there," He pauses, changing expressions as if he was reflecting on what he saw. "It was interesting. I felt like I could tell when you were really focused and when you were not,"

"The more focused I am, the more control I have," I reply right as he finishes his sentence, like it was second nature for me. I did not have to think about what I said at all. "My father always told me, that swords are like emotions, when referring to my emotions being connected to my dark magic. What he meant by that was, they both require to be used properly or you lose control," I pause, reflecting on this statement once again. I feel a small shiver go down my spine at the thought then continue, "Then they consume you...they consume your strength," I find myself looking out the window behind Ike as I said this. I see Ike pondering what I had just said for a moment, his expression changes after a while.

"Your father is a smart man," He finally says, breaking the silence he has created. "But, I remember you telling me your father did not teach you how to fight," I force my gaze from the night sky outside and find Ike's gaze on me. "Yes, that is true, he did not. However, I did watch him practice from my window of my room. I learned how to do some things from watching him. However, I was not good at handling a sword. I always have had to use my magic to power up the sword and use it properly," I pause for only a second. "I had learned how to fight with magic from my mother. She mostly taught me how to control and balance my emotions," I focus on Ike's gaze.

I have to admit I enjoy chatting with you. It is your lucky day; I will tell you more. I am not the type for chatting my secrets away to just anyone, you know...but with you, I feel like I can.

Ike looks like he is quite interested in what I have to say, so I decide to continue. "One time, I tried using father's sword. Without any of my magic, without nothing. After a couple of swings, my emotions started raining over me, feeling after feeling. These emotions were difficult to compress. I normally did not have any problem compressing them. But that time...was different. Those were aggressive emotions, anger...power. I soon realized I had lost control over those emotions then. My magic deep inside me had escaped and took control over the blade," A shiver falls down my spine as I recall what had happened that day. "I instantly dropped the blade. It fell to the ground and clattered, creating a loud jolting noise. I was young then, so I started to cry after that,"

I shrug.

Did I just...reveal that secret just now?

My expression goes to shock as I stare into Ike's gaze. I mumble softly to him, "I'm sorry...," I feel my expression grow weaker as I keep my gaze onto Ike's. His expression changes once again, "Sorry for what?"

I just lowered my guard. I never expected that would happen...I never expected I would reveal THAT secret in particular...

"I—I did not mean to... tell anyone that...," I say to him softly.

The room fills with silence for what feels like forever. Our gazes stay locked onto each other's however. Ike breaks the silence, finally, "I hope to see you fight sometime. Your magic is very impressive. I was impressed when you showed us earlier this evening, the things you can do," I realize he was talking about the lock I broke earlier. I feel a small smile etch across my face and I could not hide that one. I mutter, "Thanks," Then my smile fades.

I must help my father...I should not stay here...

I quickly stand up, building up my guard once again. I compress my emotions back into the back of my mind. My eyes disappear within the darkness of my hood. Without looking back, I mutter, "I should get to bed," I quickly hover into the back room once again and shut the door.